


Don't go

by bananabottle



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Niki's crying, so am I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:46:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24704017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananabottle/pseuds/bananabottle
Summary: "You.. Were you really planning to leave me?"
Relationships: Amagi Rinne/Shiina Niki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 106





	Don't go

There was a heavy silence in their shared apartment this time.

During the MDM, Niki seemed to be in a pretty good mood, talking calmly to Rinne, behaving just as usual.

But as soon as they were alone, Rinne felt as if he were in a field during a thunderstorm and there was not a single place where he could hide from unrestrained and merciless power of nature.

Niki was quiet when he cooked their dinner, and he didn't respond to Rinne's silly advances, when usually he was whining or mumbling at every word.

"My sweet Niki smells so good~"

Rinne hovered around him, grabbing his shoulders and hips, but gets absolutely nothing as an answer. It didn't annoy him this time, for some reason. More like puts him in a strain. He frowned and sat down in silence when he saw Niki reaching for the plates, preparing to set the table. He placed several bowls in front of the red-haired man, there was rice, noodles with beef and vegetables, and some other snacks. Niki sat down at the opposite side of the table.

Rinne cheerfully shouted the familiar "itadakimasu~" and chewed the meat when Niki's voice made him choke.

"You.. Were you really planning to leave me?"

Huh?

Rinne had nothing to say, and felt a little erritated, biting his tongue to stop himself from spit out something rude, lifting his gaze up to look Niki in the eyes. Suddenly, he felt like a naughty child being told off by the person they most respected, someone who they didn't want to hear bad words from. That was rather strange because Niki doesn't look disappointed, though his voice was low and face was bitter. Not that Rinne would have felt ashamed after being scolded anyway, but he still couldn't answer Shiina.  
What should he really answer if he wouldn't be able to figure out everything for himself, as the thought of actually leaving was carefully banished by him. He didn't know. Was he really ready to leave everything behind? Leave Niki behind? Maybe.  
Even though he thought he was ready to return, Rinne still felt weird about the whole situation, as if his hometown village didn't really exist and it was just a place he made up, a place, that haunted him in his nightmares. This was especially true when he was drunk. All his problems faded into the background, blurred, mixed with the TV programs Rinne watched, as soon as the first sip of alcohol was in his throat and then he was back in happy oblivion, heavy thoughts and memories were just the plot of another horror movie. Niki helped maintain this small illusion, making Amagi's life warm, bright, and carefree. He gave him everything and Rinne took it, took it without a trace. 

Still, reality remains reality. His home and his people are waiting, preventing him from living freely, even when he is so far away.

It's not a place he wants to go back to. Not a place he wanted Hiiro to go back to. And certainly not the place he wanted Niki to ever go to. Never.

"Even when I told you that I'm ready- That I want to follow you no matter where you are going?" Niki continues and now his eyes becomes painfully sad, their dull blue color begin to glisten as tears forms in the corners of his eyes.

Tears.

Rinne had never seen Niki crying.  
Even after outright bullying, he could whimper or yelp, but always seemed to forget about what happened after a few minutes. He also keeps proving that food and cooking are the only things that really matters to him in this life. Even life itself was not so dear to Niki, apparently.

So it was hard for Rinne to accept that this facade had been destroyed, that the impenetrable wall that protected Niki's mind from other people's opinions and everything negative in this world was collapsing, collapsing, because Niki _did_ care. And the stones that made up this wall were now crushing each other rolling one after the other in an endless stream, like tears rolling down Shiina's cheeks right now.

"No." that was a lie, obviously.

Niki slams his fist on the table and it knocks the air out of Rinne's lungs and all the thoughts out of his head. Was it Niki? Sweet, always shining and cheerful boy with natural talent to make everything better by his existence only?  
_What is even going on?!_

"I-"

"Don't mess with me!" Niki doesn't scream, but his voice isn't calm. It sounds like a broken string, just as high and shaking after the last syllable. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare tell me that this is how you were going to repay me! If you think that... That a bag of money or a note with sweet words would be enough, then-"

Niki doesn't finish the sentence, but pounces on the bowl of rice in front of him and begins to furiously fill his mouth while tears continue to drip onto the table and into this very bowl.

_Aaaagh, he's so **hungry**!_  
After swallowing half of it at once, he continues, wiping his face.

"If... If you only dared to leave me... like a coward... I swear, I swear to God, Amagi Rinne, I would have found you then by your smell of a traitor and the cheapest beer in Japan and caught you up to pull your throat out with my bare hands!"

He does not look at Rinne, his brows are furrowed, face wet and angry.  
This tearful monologue, pouting and red cheeks made Rinne laugh histerically.

Niki's face contorted as if he was trying to stay as angry and upset as he was, but he couldn't help but smile bitterly, so his lips trembled as he let out nervous chuckles.

"Rinne-kun."

"Don't lie to yaself, Ni~ki!" Rinne finally said, wiping away the tears that had formed. "Ya love me so much, so ya could never do that, right?"

These words caused Niki to burst into another torrent of "Rinne-kun-you-stupid-selfish-jerk" and other obscenities, which he shouted as he fell to his knees, while the tears kept rolling down his cheeks. Rinne sat down next to him, holding him as he struggled feebly.

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone, you idiot!" Niki howled, yet he was clutching at Rinne's t-shirt with such a strength his knuckles were white.

Rinne rocked back and forth in silence, one hand on Niki's waist, the other stroking his hair as if he was soothing a small child. Niki hugged him as tightly as he could, weak from tears and stress, burying his face in his shoulder, and howled, howled out loud, unabashed, and that sound made Rinne's insides twist in a painful spasm. His t-shirt was immediately wet from Niki's tears, and he pulled back a little, just enough to pull Shiina away from him, while the boy was very resistant to Rinne's attempts to brake their hug. Rinne lifted his tear-stained face and kissed Niki's cheek, which was wet and salty.

"Naah, ya don't really want that." that was all he said, covering Niki's face with kisses, stroking his back, and holding him close again.

He listened to Niki howling and calling him the stupidest fool, the worst, the cruelest jerk in the world, and sobbing quietly.  
He waites until Niki has completely calmed down, until his tears have dried, and his breathing has steadied, until he is no longer sniffling.

"You still... Owe me my happy-ever-after...I'm not forgetting that.."

Niki's voice is hoarse and he whispers quietly and kisses Rinne's palms.

"As my Niki-kyun wishes~" Rinne answers with a smile. "I'm never givin' up on my words."

Niki just nodds and hugs the ( _stupid_ ) red-haired man tighter.

Rinne noticed a little after, that Niki's asleep, so he carried him to their bedroom, holding his hand, letting him feel that he was there.  
He hadn't ever held him with such care and tenderness, probably not even after their first time together, but despite all his efforts, as soon as he let go of the gray-haired man's hand, he opened his swollen and red eyes and croaked.

"No."

Rinne let out a soft laugh and grabbed the end of the blanket as he climbed into bed next to Niki.

Of course, he won't leave him. How is this even possible?  
Rinne is not a coward, he won't run away and he will take responsibility. He would make sure Niki will live in a bliss and comfort until the day he died. And Rinne would be there too, diying with him.

"Gyahahahah~, it seems like my little baby Niki can't sleep alone! How quirky, ya used to always sen' me away and tell me I smelled like a homeless alcoholic!" he said, laying down next to Niki.  
The man kicked him and turned away with a frowning face.

"And you really are. Most of the time."

"Ahhh~! Ouch, Niki-kyun, how cruel ya're~ Real meanie! But-" Rinne theatrically wiped away a tear as he wrapped his arm around Niki's waist. "Be happy, 'cause Amagi Rinne right here loves his dear Niki so~o much even such a horrific act of violence won' drive him away!"

Niki leaned against him, relaxed, and didn't react to the joke. Though Rinne can tell he's smiling.

They laid in silence like that for five minutes straight, until Niki sighed and turned to face the other man.

"Moron."

Rinne smiled, lips pressed to Niki's forehead.  
The teen mumbled something else, as he nuzzled Rinne's neck, very quiet, so quiet the red-headed couldn't hear him. But it wasn't necessary as he understood all with the way Niki squeezed his hand.

_Me too, Niki._

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sad but also happy


End file.
